I also thought the timing of the poll this time would be interesting because we are on the cusp of the full Windows 8 release and the corresponding marketing blitz that will accompany it. Microsoft will be pushing Windows 8 at a time when most organizations are just now rolling out Windows 7.

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Results 2011

When we ran these poll questions in August 2011, the results showed that most of the respondents were still using Windows XP at a clip of 75% or better, while an even greater percentage had implemented Windows 7 for less than 25% of their computers.

Results 2012

Last week's poll shows that slowly but surely, businesses are migrating away from Windows XP. In August 2011, 56% said that more than 75% of their desktop systems were running XP, but last week's responses show that percentage had dropped to 43%.

On the flip side of the question, in August 2011, some 69% of the respondents said that Windows 7 was running on less than 25% of their business systems. However, as of last week that percentage had dropped to 52%.

The results are really not that shocking - I think we all could have predicted that businesses are migrating away from Windows XP at a slightly accelerated rate. The year 2014 is really not that far off anymore.

The more interesting thing is that, with Windows 8 set to release next week, there doesn't seem to be much chance that enterprises just now starting to roll out Windows 7 are going to jump to Windows 8 anytime soon. It may very well be that the real market for Windows 8 is going to be those enterprises running XP that never took the plunge to implement Windows 7 in the first place.

About Mark Kaelin

Mark W. Kaelin has been writing and editing stories about the IT industry, gadgets, finance, accounting, and tech-life for more than 25 years. Most recently, he has been a regular contributor to BreakingModern.com, aNewDomain.net, and TechRepublic.

Full Bio

Mark W. Kaelin has been writing and editing stories about the IT industry, gadgets, finance, accounting, and tech-life for more than 25 years. Most recently, he has been a regular contributor to BreakingModern.com, aNewDomain.net, and TechRepublic.